My high school years: 1955 – 19571955
Just five days after the Fourth of July in 1955 a new form of independence peaked on the charts. On July 9, Bill Haley and His Saddlemen (Comets that is) had hit number one and stayed there for 8 weeks. Their total time on the charts was 38 weeks, with a stay of 25 weeks in the top 40 and 19 weeks in the top ten. “Rock Around The Clock” was to become number 11 on the all-time rock and roll charts, with rumors of sales of over 35 million.
Bill had been playing a back-beat on his archtop and it was what we needed. Early pictures of the group show a steel guitar player, but we never heard him on the records. The info on Bill Haley at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame is a true tribute to an amazing man.
Another strange thing was happening with country music. A hairdresser took an old standby called “Ida Red” and named it after a brand of makeup. The drums sounded like a flat tire and the guitar sounded like a diesel horn, and we went crazy boppin’ to “Maybellene.” The rain water blowin’ all under the hood. “Maybellene” peaked at number five nationally on September 10, 1955, and Chuck Berry put his own brand on the electric guitar.
As fast as new records were coming out by Black singers, a generic (I don’t care – I liked him!) clean-cut, rosy-cheeked, soft-spoken, easy-going mellow-voiced young man was doing cover versions. In 1955 Pat Boone outsold the original version of Ain’t That A Shame ( Fats Domino ).
You will not find Pat Boone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though many notable rockers have said that he should be, and my friend (and third manager) Prewitt Rose – who discovered Ral Donner – was involved in efforts to have Pat inducted.
This chart was compiled by Joel Whitburn from Billboard charts and was computed starting with the onset of “Rock Around The Clock” as the beginning of the Rock and Roll era, so only six rock/rockabilly releases show on this chart on the Top 40 in 1955. Other links at the bottom of this page show each full year.
